HuffleProud
by IghenodProtectorOfLife
Summary: Welcome to Hufflepride Fort! This is the story of a 14 yr old Hufflepuff trans boy, and his journey of self-discovery. It's about the terror and relief that comes with figuring all that out, set against the backdrop of some good ol' Hogwartsian magic. And lots of bad-ass Hufflepuffs. CW: dysphoria, misgendering (main character is misgendered until he stops misgendering himself.)
1. Chapter 1

Katie was short, and smiley, and had messy hair that hung to her waist because she hated getting it cut or trying to put it up. Her mother was from Scotland. Her father was from Bangalore. She was from Stevenage where they currently lived, although it had been three years since she had spent a full year at home; as this story begins she was returning on the famous express to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It would be her fourth year, but she still felt the first week of school butterflies flit through her insides as she wandered down the train in search of her fellow fourth year Hufflepuffs.

She found the Gryffindors almost immediately. They were bustling between several adjacent compartments, some sitting on the seats, some on the floor, some on each others laps. The air was full of loud voices and raucous laughter. Several waved and called out as she passed by.

"Hiya Katie!"

"Alright?"

Katie grinned and waved, but continued. She could catch up with her Gryffindor friends somewhere she could actually hear the sound of her own thoughts. She found her own roommates at the very back of the train. They had split themselves by room: boys in one compartment, girls in the one across hall. Her friend Tomnal Benjen was just crossing between the two with an old Danish cookie tin full of bread. It smelled heavenly. Katie felt the butterflies melt away.

"What's that incredible smell Tommy?" she called out.

Tomnal looked up and grinned, "KitKat!" He cried, "We were just wondering when you would show up. How was your summer? Banana bread, by the way, my very own secret recipe."

He held out the tin with one hand and put the other behind his back like a fancy waiter. Katie laughed and lifted a warm slice of bread from the tin.

"Heavenly!" she exclaimed after the first bite, "glad to see you're still a culinary genius. My summer was brilliant. I just got back from a month at my mam and pa's in the Scottish Isles. I think my cousin Dom and I managed to take a photo of Nessie. I absolutely must show you. How was yours?"

"Oh horrific," Tomnal replied, waving a hand cheerfully, "My parents decided to take us all down to Aruba for the twins 17th."

"Yes, sounds like a nightmare," Katie smirked.

"Well, I told them that if we could just stay home I'd make a seven layer cake," he replied, "but as we ended up on the beach for two weeks I didn't even have access to a kitchen."

"Oh I see," Katie said, "that must've just about killed you."

"Yes," Tomnal nodded mournfully, "well, I must continue my rounds, another slice?"

Katie took another piece from Tomnal's tin, then watched him disappear into the boy's compartment. He shut the door softly and the hallway fell silent.

Katie hesitated for a long moment, looking from one compartment to the other. In one, Tomnal was passing the tin around to a group of enthusiastic boys laughing at an unheard joke. In the other the girls were chatting as two of them attempted to get a kettle going over a small jar of fire. Eventually one of the two looked up and saw Katie standing outside. Her face broke into a grin, then she forced it into a look of joking disgust, then she laughed and beckoned. Katie turned the handle of the girl's compartment. She was greeted by a cheerful chorus of greetings.

"There she is!" hollered Courtney Glenn, beaming through her thick glasses, "Katie in the house everyone!"

Laurel Wilder turned and pulled back her curtain of curls to shoot Katie a shy, but delighted smile.

"Gang's all here," agreed Rapheal Brun warmly, scooting over to give Katie a seat between her and the beckoner, Andi Lu.

"Give me a hand with this will ya Kay?" said Andi without looking up from the fire she was prodding irritably with her wand, "I can't remember the spell that makes a fire that doesn't need oxygen but still burns HOT."

"Budge up then," Katie plunked herself down on the seat and took out her own wand. Soon enough, with the small fire going and Laurel levitating the kettle directly above the flame, they had tea enough to go round as well as plenty to catch up on about the previous summer.


	2. Chapter 2

Dinner, as always, was excellent, and afterwards the Hufflepuffs descended to their common room warm and sleepy. It was a beautifully familiar sight. Yellow and gold tapestries crisscrossed the ceiling and hung on the walls. Also on the wall to their left were a number of paintings, most notably a reimagining of Van Goph's "Sunflowers" that Rapheal had made the previous year. There were a number of live plants as well, including a comprehensive collection of herbs and a small tomato plant heavy with fruit. Along the far wall was a shelf packed with cards, games, yarn, a telescope, battered old books, coloured pencils, scrap parchment and extra quills. Leading away on either side were corridors to the dorms, and between them an extensive and mismatched collection of chairs and couches and a large wooden table set on a thick rug. Katie would have loved to stay by the fire: it was roaring splendidly in the hearth and she had dearly missed her favourite beanbag. The fourth years, however, seemed mostly intent on investigating their new rooms. Katie watched the boys disappear down the hall, waved hello at a group of sixth years surreptitiously opening a bottle of firewhiskey at the table, and then followed Andi into the girls dorm.

The hallway was low and rounded with a sandy, unfinished floor. Halfway down was a wooden door with a small gold "4" hung in the middle. Directly inside was a small table set with candles and plate of biscuits. On either side were three four-poster beds hung with soft yellow tapestry.

"Looks like it's you and me again," Andi said with a smile, gesturing at the first two beds on the left. At the foot of the bed closest to the middle table Katie's trunk sat waiting for her. She felt her stomach twist just a little: she wasn't exactly in love with the idea of changing into her robes every morning in the exact centre of the room, but she shot Andi a thumbs up.

"They wouldn't dare split up the dream team," she said.

"Damn right," Andi replied, pulling open the tapestries on her bed and sitting down, "I've been missing my baby sister."

Katie wrinkled her nose in irritation, "I'm n— we are literally the exact same age, that's why we're both in this dorm in the first place, just cause I'm shorter than you—"

Andi cut her off with a deftly thrown pillow, "all right, all right, I'm kidding! Shut up, or tell me you missed me too. Those are the options."

"Only two options?" Katie asked, glancing down with exaggerated thoughtfulness at the pillow she had just caught, "Funny, I can think of a third actually."

One pillowfight and a hot shower later, Katie pulled shut the curtains around her bed and settled into sleep.

The next morning Katie awoke to stillness. four of the other five sets of curtains were still drawn. The final bed belonged to Laurel, who was the type of person who regularly woke up before dawn and snuck up to the astronomy tower to watch the sun rise. Katie couldn't help but feel slightly relieved at the moment of calm. She slipped softly into the bathroom to put on her robes, and then headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

To her immense delight as soon as the stepped out into the hallway she heard the chatter of three familiar voices. At the far end of the hall Tomnal, with their friends Dev, and Calum, was just turning onto the staircase.

"Hey!" Katie took off at a sprint to catch them, "Cal! Dev! Wait up!"

They turned. Calum's freckled face broke into a wide grin. Dev, who was a good foot shorter than the gangly Calum, put both hands in front of his face like a megaphone and yelled,

"KitKAT!"

as if he were announcing the arrival of a star quidditch player onto the pitch. A small portrait of a Victorian era gentlemen glared at them severely as Katie skidded to stop and gave a deep bow.

"At your service," she replied with mock seriousness.

Tomnal rolled his eyes, "lads, lads, calm down," he said grandiously, "this is serious business."

"What is serious business?" Katie asked.

"Well, breakfast, for one," Tomnal replied, continuing up the stairs.

"And for two," Calum continued, "the Hufflepride Fort."

"The what?" asked Katie.

"I still think that's an _absurd_ name," interjected Dev.

"Actually, it's _perfect_ ," retorted Tomnal.

"Perfect for _what?_ " asked Katie.

"Our treehouse!" announced Calum. He rummaged around in his bag as they entered the Great Hall, and slammed a book down onto the Hufflepuff table. It was a rather worn, obviously muggle book with a yellow cover and ugly bright red lettering that relayed the title, "Build It Yourself!"

Katie sat down on the bench and picked it up. It was fairly straightforward, full of diagrams of wood boxes, descriptions of different types of nails, safety disclaimers about chainsaws…

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

"My muggle uncle is a lumberjack or something," Calum replied, shrugging, "he visited this summer and gave it to me. It's time to put it to good use."

"We've decided it's time to upgrade the rendez-vous point," Tomnal continued.

The rendez-vous point was a place they had discovered in second year when Dev dared Katie to retrieve a bludger that had gone rogue and escaped the grounds. It was a small clearing in the Forbidden Forest off the side of the creek that flowed from the woods to the Lake. To get there through the dense trees, one had to walk straight up the middle of the stream for ten minutes. This kept the place secret and exciting, but it was wet, and particularly unpleasant in winter. They often brought a jar fire with them, and had all become incredibly proficient in heating and drying charms.

"A real shelter would be nice," Katie agreed, but her heart sank. She had been the one to discover the rendez-vou point, and under other circumstances might have objected to any decisions made without her. She could just picture her friends all lounging around the boys dorm after dinner, discussing plans for the new year without her…

She took a pointedly nonchalant bite of toast, flipped to a diagram about building a secure landing in a tree, and continued,

"being there in the rain is certainly terrible the way it is."

"We could _sleep_ out there," Calum exclaimed dropping his spoon into his porridge.

"And keep a good supply of provisions," added Tomnal, carefully choosing a jam from the selection he had gathered in front of him.

"You know what else we could do," Katie said thoughtfully, already latching onto the plan despite herself, "it might be tricky, but if we can pull of a good internal enlargement charm…"

"We could make it bigger on the inside!" Dev exclaimed, "you are brilliant!"

Katie grinned, "you're right, and unfortunately for you my brilliant brain has come to one more conclusion. You're outvoted Dev, Hufflepride Fort it is."

"Whatever," Dev rolled his eyes.

"Hear, hear!" exclaimed Tomnal through a mouthful of crepe.


	3. Chapter 3

The first days of classes passed in a blur of activity. Katie's class list included; potions, which she hated; charms, which she was extremely good at; transfiguration and history of magic, which were both quite boring; astronomy, which she took at Laurel's suggestion; defense against the dark arts, Andi's favourite class; and magical manipulation of mechanics, which Katie convinced Tomnal, Calum, and Dev was essential for the construction of Hufflepride Fort.

On Wednesday afternoon quidditch tryouts were held. Dev, who was a passionate keeper, had convinced Calum, Tomnal, and Katie to all tryout as soon as it was allowed second year, and it was becoming a tradition. Tomnal and Calum both went for chasers, as Calum had worked out that it was the position they were statistically most likely to get despite both of them being abysmally uncoordinated. Katie was a beater. Rapheal, and another fourth year Hufflepuff Danny were also trying out, so the six of them headed out in a big pack to the quidditch pitch. When they arrived, the field was bustling with hopeful Hufflepuffs: it seemed that the fourth years weren't the only group with an unusually high turnout. Nearly a dozen second years alone had turned up. Team Captain sixth year Tiffany Parks was standing in the middle of the chaos looking bemused.

"Tough competition," remarked Tomnal, "how are those chances looking Calum?"

"Worse if I pull out a quill and start doing maths in front of these jocks," Calum replied.

Dev was silent for once, jaw set, scopeing out the assembled crowd.

"They're all tiny though— just look at them!" Katie said, gesturing at the second years in particular, "I don't know about you two, but Dev and I almost made reserves last year, and several spots have since opened up."

Devesh nodded jerkily.

"speak for yourself," said Tomnal, "but don't judge my abilities until you've watched me singlehandedly win all three chaser positions."

Calum laughed. A whistle rang out. Tiffany had conjured a megaphone and was attempting to organize the crowd based on desired position.

Chasers went first, and Katie, Dev, and Rapheal laughed themselves silly watching Tomnal and Calum attempt to outmanoeuvre the pair of veteran seventh years guarding the goal. Danny Fisher did quite well, but the competition was, as Tomnal had said, tough, if only because so many people were lined up on the chaser side of the field. Every single one of the second years seemed to be giving it a go.

Next were seeker tryouts. Tomnal and Calum, figuring the odds couldn't get any worse, decided to get in that line as well. There was a real chance for anyone with actual talent: both the first and second seekers had graduated the previous year, leaving the spot wide open. It soon became obvious that Rapheal was cleaning the floor with all the other contestants. She returned to the ground flushed, glowing, and just as convinced that she didn't stand a chance as Katie was that she was on the team without a doubt.

The third line was for keepers. Tomnal and Calum decided to try for keeper as well and they slipped into the line nearly bent double from giggling. Dev followed them, glowering. Tomnal let in every single quaffle thrown at him, Calum managed to block two with what could only be sheer luck and excessively long limbs, and Dev punted away nine out of ten shots with the intensity of a man disarming a bomb.

Finally beater tryouts were announced. Katie walked over to the line with a nervous new awareness of everything around her: the breeze, the blue of the sky, the surprisingly large crowd of onlookers gathered in the stands, Andi among them shouting something Katie couldn't hear over the pounding of her pulse. The beater line was the shortest, largely because not one of the second years was trying out, but the collection of bulky beaters was by far the most intimidating of the four. It consisted of only three veteran players, a fifth year named Tony Bronx, two third year boys fresh off a summer growth spurt, Katie, and Tomnal. Tiffany came over to explain the test, and with an exasperated groan shooed Tomnal from the practice grounds. Katie realised with a sickening abruptness that she was by far the smallest contestant remaining.


	4. Chapter 4

The test was to involve a skrimmage of sorts: three on four, knocking a bludger back and forth across the pitch. Katie was set opposite Tony Bronx. She kicked off from the ground and took her position, hovering on the left side of the pitch. The wooden bat was smooth and familiar in her hand. For a moment everyone was still.

Then there was a loud click and not one, but two bludgers came whizzing up into the air. Wether this was intentional or not Katie couldn't tell, as she soon found one heading directly for her. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she swung the bat a little to loosen her swing. Then she brought it up with a loud *crack* and the bludger went whizzing off towards the opposite side of the pitch. The two third years both tried to block it, and in their confusion the ball cleared the end of the pitch before curving back around. Katie pumped her fist in the air: the first point!

Another bludger appeared out of nowhere and she barely managed to swing her self around and kick it back toward Tony Bronx. Her cheeks went pink as he returned the ball with ease: it had been a somewhat pathetic hit. She resolved herself to better focus as the game continued.

Several minutes later, Katie's team was definitely winning. The third years seemed to still be in the awkward phase of not being totally able to control their own limbs. It wasn't them Katie was worried about however, but Tony Bronx. The three veteran players would probably make the team with little argument, leaving one final reserve position. It was becoming more and more obvious that it would be either Katie, or Tony who would fill it. Katie hadn't come down to the field quite as invested in actually getting on the team as Dev, but now that it was so close… She really stood a chance. Neither she nor Tony had let past a single ball. Just one missed ball, just one mistake, and one of them would be out of the running. Tony knew it too. Every time he got his bat on the ball, he sent a powerful hit her way.

"TWO MINUTES," roared Tiffany from the ground

Tony sent a bludger flying low near the grass and Katie dived for it, sending it back towards him with a powerful underhand swing. Looking up revealed that he already had his bat on the other ball, sending it high into the very top of Katie's side of the pitch. Katie shot upwards, bent low to her broom, bat ready. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the second bludger bounce off of Tony's bat. Both balls were coming for her. She gritted her teeth and altered her course slightly, coming up on the first ball from behind. She gave it a whack, used the momentum to swung upside down on her broom, and brought the bat round into the second one. Both went whizzing back towards the other end of the pitch. A cheer rose up from the crowd assembled on the ground. Katie, still hanging upside down on her broom, beamed with pride.

"ONE MINUTE."

But now Tony had a chance to prove himself. With both bludgers coming directly at him, he squared his broad shoulders with a look of intense determination. He positioned himself, raised his bat, knocked the first bludger away, and WHAM!

The second bludger hit him directly in the stomach, knocking him back several feet, and then bouncing away across the field. Katie gasped and yanked herself back upright onto her broom, leaning forward to fly towards him. She had wanted to beat Tony at quidditch, not break his ribs…

"TIME'S UP," Tiffany hollered, kicking off from the ground on her own broom, "Tony get down here!"

But Tony was still sitting there on his broom, perfectly calm, and…. grinning? Katie pulled up to stop in front of him.

"Are you ok?!"

"I call that move the Houdini," he answered with a grin, "I'm a bit sore, but if you really tense up your abdominals, well, I was ready for it, I'll be fine."

Katie felt relief flooding through her body as Tiffany pulled up next to her, followed by the assortment of other beaters.

"I call that move incredibly stupid," Tiffany said grimly, but she looked impressed all the same, "excellent flying today everyone. It's been a pleasure getting back into the season by getting to see you all show off your skills. Results will be posted on the common room notice board Friday before the Welcome Back Ball."

As Katie descended so did her spirits. Of all the stresses of the first week of term, the Welcome Back Ball was by far the worst. As a balance to all the time spent with one's own house, the Welcome Back Ball was supposed to encourage camaraderie across houses by celebrating the new year with a whole school event. Katie always found herself wondering why they couldn't do that with a good old fashioned field day, or a trivia night, or even just a dance without the world "ball" in the title. At a "dance" you could always spend the evening relaxing off to the side with good friends and even better hors d'ouvres. At a "ball" it suddenly became necessary for everyone to try and impress each other by dressing up to the nines, and finding a date, and learning to twirl. It was a nightmare.

Back on the ground the onlookers were streaming down from the stands. Andi found Katie the second she had landed and practically tackled her with a hug.

"Kay that was brilliant!" she exclaimed, "I think you stand an amazing chance. _I'd_ pick you for sure."

Calum nodded in agreement, "if it's down to you and Bronx, it was pretty clear who was the better flier."

"Of course," Tomnal nodded seriously, "me."

"Oh shut up!" yelled Katie and Dev at once.

"You really rocked it out there too, Dev" added Courtney, who was wearing all yellow and carrying what Katie suspected was a live badger on her shoulder, "especially that last save; we were all on the edge of our seats."

Dev's cheeks coloured and he puffed up his chest a little, but he only said, "oh, I dunno, bit disappointed about the one I missed. If I were built like Tony I could've headbutted it out of the way… anyway, guess we'll see on Friday."

"Friday!" exclaimed Courtney with reverence, as the group started moving up towards the castle, "oh I can't wait!"

"Has anyone in our year got a date?" asked Andi.

Danny immediately turned pink and mumbled something, but Katie was no longer listening. She let herself fall behind the group a couple paces and looked up at the sky. The light was turning the deep gold of early autumn evenings. She found it much easier to enjoy without the babble.

"Hey Kay," she was brought back to earth by Andi slowing to walk beside her. Something was obviously on her mind, Katie could tell, "I wanted to run something by you."

Katie nodded, and watched Andi's face closely.

"Not here," Andi said, gesturing towards the others.

"Of course," Katie nodded, "come with me to the broom shed?"


	5. Chapter 5

She held out her broom horizontally so Andi could get on the back, then swung her own leg over and kicked off lightly towards the sky. Andi laughed and pumped her fist in the air. It reminded Katie of their first flying lesson back in first year. Katie had grown up with broomsticks as her mother was not only a witch, but also an enourmous fan of all types of flying. Andi, on the other hand, had grown up in muggle foster care and had a terrible fear of heights. She refused to even try to get on a broom until Katie offered to go with her. Then a week later she was given detention for trying to break into the broom shed on a Saturday. That was Andi.

"So," said Katie, landing a fair distance from the shed so they could walk in private through the trees, "what's on your mind?"

Andi looked at her very seriously, "Katie," she announced, "it's time."

Katie raised an eyebrow, "time for what exactly?"

Andi stuck her chin in the air defiantly and announced,

"I'm going to ask Yazmin Adid to go to Welcome Back with me!"

Katie had to admit (to herself anyway) that this was somewhat anti-climactic, or at least not surprising. It was also a totally understandable idea: Yazmin was a Gryffindor with gorgeous dark hair, a killer tongue, and an incredibly kind nature. She was the type to waltz into a room covered head to toe in flowers, and then totally decimate whoever was being an ass with a single sentence.

"You'll have competition," Katie said.

Andi scowled, "of course I'll have competition! From the _boys_! Who are supposed to be asking people like Yazmin Adid to the ball!"

"Yeah and I expect the boys will also be annoyed that you insist on stealing away their opportunities to ask you."

Andi cracked a smile, "hey, it's not my fault. If I hadn't asked Carter last year the idiot might have tried to go with someone else."

"And we all know that ended well," Katie rolled here eyes, then asked "are you worried about what people will think?"

"No!" Andi literally stomped the ground as she shouted this, then bit her lip, "Uh, well, I guess a bit, yeah, I mean people can be a bit… close-minded about this stuff sometimes."

Katie nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, if anyone has a problem with it, they'll have me and my beater's bat to contend with," she said, "and Yazmin… I think you might have a chance."

Andi smirked, "and if that isn't my catchprase; Andi Lu, I think she might have a chance."

"To be fair, that's all you ever seem to need," said Katie, pulling open the shed and hanging up her broom. Then the two of them headed back up to the castle for supper.

Friday came far too fast. Katie came down to breakfast so full of dread that she hardly felt attached to her body at all as she sat down next to Tomnal at the Hufflepuff table. Tomnal seemed out of sorts as well: he had put only butter on his toast.

"Mornin'" he mumbled as Katie poured herself some coffee, but he didn't look at her. Following his gaze, Katie saw that Andi was seated at the Gryffindor table. She looked absolutely delighted, most likely due to the laughing Yazmin next to her. Katie smiled.

"Hey KitKat, you hate Welcome Back, yeah?" Tomnal asked.

"With a fiery passion," Katie responded.

"Do you wanna go with me as friends? Obviously no problem if you already have plans, I just though, well, I'm not really feeling it either to be honest, and that way we can leave whenever we want and stuff."

"I would be so relieved, you've no idea," said Katie.

"You're my hero," said Tomnal.

"As I am to many," Katie quipped.

At that moment Dev and Calum plopped down across the table.

"You're being ridiculous, mate," Calum was saying, "it's — hey KitKat, Tom — it's not even a risk."

"What's a risk?" asked Katie.

"If this is about the ball, I will flay you both." said Tomnal.

"Dev is gonna ask Courtney," Calum announced.

"I said SHUT UP," Dev hissed.

"God lord," muttered Tomnal.

"I need to grab my books, see you all in Potions," said Katie, and she headed back out of the Great Hall.


End file.
